Lakewood boys win cross country district title

ARLINGTON — As the sole member of the Lakewood boys cross country team at last year’s state championships, Douglas Davis got a little lonely in Pasco last season.

This year he’s excited to have his fellow Cougars join him.

Davis finished fourth overall in the District 1/2 boys championship to lead the Lakewood team that had three runners finish in the top 10. The result was a district championship for the Cougars and a spot in next week’s state meet.

“Getting to go last year as an individual, I thought it was one of the best things ever,” Davis said. “I’m really excited to have the whole team go. If I had that much fun last year, imagine how much fun I’ll have with the team.”

As a junior, Davis is one of the younger members of a Lakewood team that features seven seniors. Davis said this is the year that the Cougars hope their experience pays off.

“It’s a dream team,” Davis said. “It was a dream year. We’re losing most of them next year so we have to do well this year.”

Cougars’ head coach Jeff Sowards said Davis has been a force on the course all season for Lakewood.

“He’s been doing awesome,” Sowards said. “He’s our physical leader on the team. He burns white hot. He puts it all on the line to win it.”

Lakewood seniors Mitchell Darrah and Drew Cabales finished eighth and ninth, respectively, to bolster the Cougars’ score. Alex Cooper (20th) and Preston Davis (27th) were the other two runners to count toward Lakewood’s team tally.

Sowards said the Lakewood team is incredibly close. During the season, the district title wasn’t something that was talked about a whole lot. But running hard for your teammates was.

“We didn’t talk about that. Honestly we didn’t,” Sowards said. “Our trophy case has lots of trophies in it. Really it’s about doing the best for the guy next to you. It wasn’t about the trophy, it was just about doing our best today.

“The trophy’s just a piece of wood, some plastic, a little bit of glass and a cool picture will go in it,” Sowards continued. “But it wasn’t about the trophy. It was about being able to look the guy next to you in the eyes … be able to tell them that you did the best that you could for each other. And that’s what they did.”

With a large group of seniors on the squad, Sowards acknowledges there may be a little extra motivation for the guys who are in their last year at Lakewood High School.

“It’s senior power,” he said. “When there’s a finality in your career, you can find a little extra. Being a senior is special.”

Davis and the Cougars had to run on a course that was slick, in conditions that were less than ideal. Winds gusted strongley and heavy rains fell throughout the day at Lakewood, making the course a bit treacherous.

“It was a mess, but I still feel like it was doable to run fast,” said Davis, adding that he saw somebody slip toward the beginning of the race.

Being the home team, the Cougars had a familiarity with the course. Having ran it in training countless times, Davis believes Lakewood had a definite home-course advantage.

“I felt like there was an advantage,” Davis said. “I’ve ran it hard many times. I know it.”

Lakewood finished with 68 team points, enough to beat out second-place Squalicum (73). Sehome (74) finished right behind the Storm. Cedarcrest, with 100 points, was the fourth and final team to qualify for the state championships Nov. 9 in Pasco.

The top 20 individual runners also qualified for state.

Cedarcrest was led by senior Logan Orndorf, who finished fifth with a time of 16:32.38. The Red Wolves had two other runners — Quinn Radbourne and Jonathan Gunderson — finish in the top 20 to help their squad secure the final 2A team spot for the state meet.

Oak Harbor junior John Rodeheffer ran to victory in the boys 3A District 1 Championship on Saturday with a time of 16 minutes, 27.15 seconds, about 12 seconds ahead of the next finisher.

Rodeheffer and his Oak Harbor teammate Clayton Richardson — who finished 13th — both placed in the top 15 and secured a spot in next weekend’s 3A state championship meet in Pasco.

The top three teams also qualified, with Shorewood (48 team points), Mountlake Terrace (62) and Glacier Peak (65) clinching berths in the state tournament.

The Thunderbirds had a 2-3 punch of Omar Abdulla and Keenan Stephens, who finished second and third, respectively. Mountlake Terrace also had two runners in the top six with Jack Pearce placing fifth and Peter Kidane finishing sixth.

Glacier Peak, which also had its girls team qualify for the state tournament, had all five of its scored runners finish in the top 18.